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Black Drama


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Description: Black Drama contains the full text of 1,200 plays written from the mid-1800s to the present by more than 150 playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries. Many of the works are rare, hard to find, or out of print. James Vernon Hatch, the playwright, historian, and curator of the landmark Hatch-Billops Collection, is the project's editorial advisor. Nearly a quarter of the collection will consist of previously unpublished plays by writers such as Langston Hughes, Ed Bullins, Willis Richardson, Femi Euba, Amiri Baraka, Randolph Edmonds, Zora Neale Hurston, and many others.

A current list of authors is found at http://www.alexanderstreetpress.com/products/bldr-playwrights.htm.

Each play is extensively and deeply indexed, allowing both keyword and multi-fielded searching. The plays are accompanied by reference materials, significant ancillary information, a rich performance database, and images. The result is an exceptionally deep and unified collection that illustrates the many purposes that black theater has served: to give testimony to the ancient foundations of black culture; to protest injustices; to project emerging images of the Black; and to give voice to the many and varied expressions of black creativity.

Full text: yes
Access:  UNC-CH campus. Students, faculty, and staff or AHEC users affiliated with UNC-CH with an AHEC Digital Library account may access from off-campus.  (instructions)
Medium:  web
Coverage:  Mid 1800s to present
Language:  English